I don’t really feel like 2011 has been one of those years where one album or artist has just dominated indie music press coverage like we’ve seen in the past couple of years. We’ve had nothing like 2010-style Kanye, no world conquering magnum-opus like Merriweather Post Pavillion, no truly incendiary debut like Myths of the Near Future. Let’s be honest, even GaGa had quiet one compared to 2010, meat dress and “Judas” aside.

But in a lot of ways I enjoy that fact. I don’t feel obliged to really include anything for appreciation’s sake. When I came to writing this list, I was just able to look around and think “what did I really enjoy the most this year?”  My list is pretty Brit-centric – all top 4 are British acts in fact; and I wonder how many of those 4 will feature in US lists this year. Also, there’s only 2 debuts featured, and 1 is from an artist established long beforehand through other projects anyway. But those are the albums that really delivered for me, and that I’ve found myself able to consistently return to throughout the year. So, here we go!

10. Girls // Father, Son, Holy Ghost

I never got Girls the first time round, but their Broken Dreams Club EP last year was one of my favourite records and got me incredibly excited for this album. A massive departure in many ways from their old stuff, a stylistic mish-mash at times, this record is just full of great, great songs. Christopher Owens just takes you through every emotion you could think of when you’re in love – the playful “Honey Bunny”, the reticent “How Can I Say I Love You?”, the utterly heartbroken “Vomit”. There are one or two forgettable tracks, but they are vastly overshadowed by the brilliance elsewhere.

[mp3] Girls // Vomit

9. Josh T. Pearson // Last of the Country Gentlemen

I didn’t know anything about Josh T. Pearson at the start of 2011, and his long-time-coming debut nearly snuck under my radar this year, but Last of the Country Gentlemen is just magnificent. The idea of a 13 minute song called “Honeymoon’s Great! Wish You Were Her”, written and performed by some crazy Walt Whitman/Ginsberg look-alike, armed only with an acoustic guitar originally had me VERY sceptical, but every song on here is breathtakingly beautiful. That word is bandied about a heck of a lot in this day and age, but it’s truly appropriate here. I was left awestruck by this album, bottom jaw hanging heavily down on the desk. The hushed, restrained, tearful tales of heartbreak, uncertainty and religion are as frank and honest as song writing can get. It’s such an intimate record, Pearson’s wearied, all-American voice makes you feel like he’s taking you on a tour of every sorry dive and bottle-bottom he’s ever visited.

8. The Decemberists // The King is Dead

I owe a massive debt to Tympanogram here. This was one of the first albums I was privy to  when I joined the team, and I doubt I’d have listened to it otherwise. This was released way back in January, but I haven’t tired of listening to it since. “Don’t Carry It All”, with it’s Springsteen style harmonica blast and MASSIVE, jubilant chorus is one of the best album openers I’ve ever heard. This is one of those albums where a band are just in full flow, whether they’re totally kicking ass with some bluesy james on “Down By The Water”, lulling you with a gentle ballad on “Rise To Me”, or casually performing a stadium-sized anthem on “This Is Why We Fight”. A testament to great song writing and band chemistry.

7. The Mountain Goats // All Eternals Deck

A trend on this list of albums is that I just love good songs. I adore innovation, the totally unconventional and revolutionary, but I just can’t resist a brilliantly written song – and All Eternals Deck consists of 13 absolute crackers. I was a big fan of what I’d heard of John Darnielle before this, but this is really where I really found a way in. Like a lot of Mountain Goats stuff, Darnielle is facing his past and his demons – except here, he’s starting to overcome them. My personal favourite, “Never Quite Free”, is a heartbreakingly triumphant song about not quite being able to believe that maybe – just maybe – things could turn out OK: “It’s okay to find the faith to saunter forward, with no fear of shadows spreading where you stand”. Darnielle still has his vicious and acerbic moments though – the defiant “Damn These Vampires” and wild “Estate Sale Sign” being perfect examples. These distinctive Mountain Goats traits, alongside the bare bones instrumentation, make this a strikingly human record.

6. Elbow // Build A Rocket Boys!

Bands like Elbow give me hope. Hope that a band can stay together for 20 years and not hate each other, or not turn into douche bags. They finally made it big in the UK with The Seldom Seen Kid in 2008, and how do they respond? Just make another storming, reflective and coherent album, that’s how. Manchester and proud, the lyrics on this are stunning sketches of Guy Garvey’s youth and childhood – seeing his teenage self in kids on the corner during “Lippy Kids” or reminiscing on moving out into the big bad world on “Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl”. The songs here make me feel like someone is sharing their most personal anecdotes and memories with me over a quiet drink. “Open Arms” is a majestic, euphoric love-in, “The Birds” is the band indulging their prog-rock tendencies, and “Dear Friends” is another breathy lullaby which signs the album off with the kind of nod and wink that only your closest friends and relatives can give you.

5. Bon Iver // Bon Iver

Everyone has had something to say about this bad boy. From what I’ve seen, this is the record putting in the most appearances on end of year lists across the board – and, let’s be honest, with very good reason. I adored For Emma, Forever Ago, and the sound of this record was a shock to me, but it didn’t even have to grow on me. This is just a beautiful record, pushing at the boundaries of the kind of soundscapes you can create with a guitar. The song writing is slight and a lot sketchier than Justin Vernon’s debut, but that adds to the hazy, bleary-eyed beauty of it all. I’ve gotten lost in this album late at night countless times this year. And – what the hell – “Beth/Rest” is the best track on here.

[mp3] Bon Iver // Calgary

4. Laura Marling // A Creature I Don’t Know

I still remember the first time I ever heard Laura Marling. Standing in the lunch queue at school, aged 15. I heard “The Captain and The Hourglass” on one borrowed headphone from a friend. Literally since that moment, I’ve been in love with Laura and everything she’s come out with. She’s not written a bad song yet. People commented a lot with 2010′s I Speak Because I Can that she sounded as if she’d come of age, but THIS album is where that really happened. There’s always been a dark side to Laura’s song writing, and it finally came out in full force here with the raging “The Beast” and the lilting, detached, Leonard Cohen like “Night After Night”. This is a record about facing your demons, and Laura does it in spectacular fashion, and the triumphant finale of “All My Rage” is, as far as I’m concerned, the best song the girl’s ever written. AND SHE’S STILL ONLY TWENTY-ONE?! WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!

3. The Vaccines // What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

The Vaccines were yet another “saviours of British guitar music” at the start of 2011, sceptics imagining they’d fall by the way side like so many in the years before them. THAT’S what we expected from The Vaccines. But you know what? THEY UTTERLY SMASHED 2011. Dominated the festival circuit. Destroyed Jools Holland. Scaled the album charts. Released possibly the UK indie anthem of the year with “Post Break-Up Sex”. And then what about the album? Tune. After tune. After tune. After tune. Yes, weirdo-experimental boundary pushing is great and healthy, but sometimes, just piss off, grab me a guitar and SMASH THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF IT. “If You Wanna”, “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)”, “Norgaard”, “A Lack of Understanding”… I am literally listing the whole album. And if you think The Vaccines are just dumbed down indie for the masses, then you can enjoy awkwardly swaying to Panda Bear at ATP whilst I’m leaping around having a mentally good time on the mainstream festival circuit. Well done lads. Well bloody done.

2. Los Campesinos! // Hello Sadness

I’ll level with you: this was never going to feature outside the top 2 of my albums this year. Hell, I’m surprised it didn’t quite take #1. I’m an unashamed LC! devotee, but I can still give a considered opinion of what makes this album so bloody great. The band – line up altered since 2010′s Romance is Boring - have left behind a lot of their traditional musical trademarks: erratic, shrill guitar counterpoints, whirring violins, and Gareth’s singing voice has been getting deeper with each album. Having said that, they’re still on their usual shouty, terrifyingly brilliant form. The chorus of “By Your Hand” is downright anthemic, same goes for “Songs About Your Girlfriend”. “Every Defeat A Divorce (Three Lions)” finally sees Gareth pen the ode to English football that we’ve always known he’s wanted to, from numerous references to blazing a header against the crossbar and idolising Tony Cascarino circa 1995.  Gareth’s lyricism is as frank and detailed as always, but he gets grimmer and more gruesome on this record – especially on “Hate For The Island” and “The Black Bird, The Dark Slope”. That’s drawn a lot of criticism from some critics, but it’s refreshing to see him move past the ever ironic and comic tone he’s adopted in the past which, whilst it’s part of what’s made the band’s output so good in the past, has always put a comfortable distance between him and the lyrics (odd seeing as they’re often so personal and anecdotal). There’s nothing comfortable about lyrics like “the black bird feasts upon my guts and bears its beak to fight”. But even with the dark subject matter, this record has that incredible Smiths-like quality of being an absolute, stone cold belter.

1. Arctic Monkeys // Suck It And See

I was REALLY worried when we got the first preview of Suck It And See. I adored Humbug, but hearing “Brick By Brick” – the album’s first taster – had me worried that there was such a thing as too much time spent with Josh Homme. Needless to say, my worries were assuaged. Hell, they were well and truly battered. My worries were left cold, embarrassed, barely clothed and quivering in the corner with no memory of the night before. The Arctics took things to a new level here. Even if you hated Humbug, there’s no denying the massive leap the Arctics have taken here. They are well and truly playing with the big boys now, and the great thing is that it’s on the back of fantastic songs and brilliant musicianship. Alex Turner finally indulges his ballad writing skills, which I’ve been desperate for more of since “Only Ones Who Know”. “Love Is A Laserquest” is a beautifully English reflective rumination on heartbreak, and “Piledriver Waltz” swims nicely onto this album from Turner’s  Submarine soundtrack. The band rock out like nobody’s business on here. Forgetting the aforementioned “Brick By Brick”, “Library Pictures” is just some crazy fun, already a staple of their live set, and gives Matt Helders a shining moment. Jamie Cook’s guitar work – the most underrated in UK indie music – is just phenomenal throughout and Nick O’Malley’s bass parts are genuinely superb. Tight musicianship is hard to find these days, but it’s found here in spades, and when it’s married with ready-made indie classics like “The Hellcat Spangled Shalala” or “Suck It And See”, you have, quite simply, a near perfect indie rock album.

Honourable Mentions //

St. Vincent // Strange Mercy

[mp3] St. Vincent // Surgeon

Coldplay // Mylo Xyloto (I tried not like it, really I did…)

Alex Turner // Submarine OST

Radiohead // The King of Limbs

Stuart Townend // The Journey

Yuck // Yuck

Suuns // Zeroes QC

[mp3] Suuns // Up Past the Nursery

After hearing so many morbid and graphic tales of rape and murder, it is safe to say that the last thing you would expect to encounter with Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All is Coldplay. But Frank Ocean, the collective’s lone singer, offers up a soulful update of Coldplay’s “Strawberry Swing” on his recent debut Nostalgia, Ultra. Ocean’s debut was quietly released earlier this month. Nearly lost among all the hype and noise being made about Tyler, The Creator’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon, Ocean’s album delivers a new facet and new brick in the burgeoning OF empire.

He really has some vocal chops and he demonstrates that on his album. Ocean offers up many interesting takes on his album. He rewrites “Hotel California” with a tale of marriage and divorce. He also reworks MGMT’s “Electric Feel” with his own song titled “Nature Feels.” “Strawberry Swing,” however, is the most strangely awesome and addictive song on this album. Replacing Chris Martin’s vocals with those of Ocean, the song maintains its whimsical core. The song is pretty tame and safe by OF standards, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome. A little OF raunchiness is apparent on Ocean’s rendition of “Nature Feels.” Ocean sang many of the choruses on some of the earlier Odd Future, including two fantastic tracks from MellowHype.

I knew I really liked Ocean when he was tweeting about his love of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar cheese (a West Coast delicacy). Because truly, there is nothing better than some Oregon cheese. He also offered up the following words of encouragement to me via Twitter: “yes we are the future. and so are you my brother.”

[mp3] Frank Ocean // Strawberry Swing

For the past few weeks on Twitter, Dave and I have been relaying the results of shuffling our music collections on Friday.  (I also did a little bit last Saturday when I was on a long drive, which was probably not safe, but it passed the time.)  I’ve mentioned this before.

The point of the exercise – at least to me – is to be reminded of those songs that I love but have fallen by the wayside due to the constant rush of music I find myself under.  My life is so inundated with music from every angle that it’s nice to escape the confines of my “Recently Added” playlist once per week.

In fact, I’ve been setting my collection to shuffle most of the time when I don’t have something to listen to.  If you haven’t noticed, we’ve made a concerted effort to post twice per day here – and the afternoon post is quite often what has bubbled up in my brain as a result of the shuffling process.

This morning’s song is in that same boat.  This was probably one of my top played songs of last year, but this year it’s down to a mere 5 plays for the entire year – once every two months or so.  And frankly, it’s too good to be relegated to that.

Coldplay – Strawberry Swing (mp3) from Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Thanks to this blog, I am constantly surrounded by music of all kinds – good, bad, indifferent, instantly forgettable, unforgettable, etc. – and this project has been a nice escape from that constant crush of finding something good in the sea of what’s new.  In spite the steady wrangling of what is good/bad, music is a very subjective mistress, and to actually have to think about what is personally defining and personally enjoyable – without feeling boxed in by any intangible restraints of “cool” – is liberating.

With that said, there was another sighting of people making their own lists, so check that out over here, get my full list here, and, without further ado, here are the next two tracks on my personal list:

51. Coldplay – Sparks (mp3) from Parachutes (3:49) [Time Remaining: 738:50]

If you were to ask 10 Coldplay fans what their favorite song from Parachutes is, I’d imagine you’d get at least 5 different answers.  Dave is a fan of “Don’t Panic.”  If it were closer to 2000, I’d undoubtedly tell you that “Shiver” was mine.  I’m certain you could find others who were drawn to all of the other songs more than any other.

To be fair, Parachutes was (and is) a life defining album for a lot of people, despite Chuck Klosterman’s assertion that Coldplay is ” the shittiest fucking band (he’s) ever heard in (his) life.”  I enjoy Klosterman’s writing, but he’s off on that one.  The passing of nearly a decade has worn down my sharper edges, and the most lasting song from Coldplay is the simple, ambling “Sparks.”  It’s conciliatory, sad and heartfelt – a final concession that the relationship it’s written about is actually over.

52. Kanye West – Touch the Sky (mp3) from Late Registration (3:57) [Time Remaining: 734:53]

Yes, we just posted Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” this past weekend.  If you didn’t know, Just Blaze sampled and slowed down that beat for this song off of Kanye’s second album.  And it’s the song that is absolutely, undeniably, the one that puts me immediately in the best mood possible.  It gets me ready to go out, starts a road trip, and keeps a party going.  It’s warmer weather and bluer skies.

Coldplay‘s free, live EP – LeftRightLeftRightLeft – is available for download today for only your e-mail address.  The EP will be given away to fans at all North American Coldplay tour dates, but if you’re not attending, or want to listen to it prior to the concert you’re attending, you can get it yourself today.  It’s mostly tracks from the Viva La Vida era, but there are a couple standards mixed in as well.

Get it here, and the tracklist below, in case you need to be convinced:

1. Glass of Water
2. 42
3. Clocks
4. Strawberry Swing
5. The Hardest Part/Postcards from Far Away
6. Viva La Vida
7. Death Will Never Conquer
8. Fix You
9. Death and All of His Friends

Coldplay’s track, “Viva La Vida,” has been mired in controversy about the origin of it’s melody since it’s release last year.

First, the Creaky Boards made the claim with their track “The Songs I Didn’t Write.”  Then, Joe Satriani tried, claiming that the hit was a rip-off of his 2004 tune “If I Could Fly.”

Now, NME is reporting that Cat Stevens is making the claim that “Viva La Vida” bites off of his “Foreigner Suite.”

I don’t know if any of these claims are true, nor do I care, but doesn’t it seem like every time Cat Stevens has a new album to promote, or a Greatest Hits package to shill, that he thrusts himself right back into the limelight?  I don’t begrudge anyone their particular faith, but it doesn’t make sense to abandon it for monetary gain every few years.  God, in whatever form you believe, probably doesn’t appreciate it.

Creaky Boards – The Songs I Didn’t Write (mp3) from Brooklyn Is Love

This is a nice gift for anyone going attending the upcoming North American leg of Coldplay‘s tour:

“…Coldplay will be giving away a live CD, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, at every remaining live show in 2009 (apart from festival shows). Starting with the band’s first North American tour date, at West Palm Beach in Florida on May 15th, every fan attending a show will be given a free copy of the nine-track CD, which won’t be available elsewhere.”

Not attending one of the shows?  Have no fear, because the band has your back too:

“Also on May 15th, LeftRightLeftRightLeft will be made available as a free download right here at coldplay.com, for all fans (and for the same time period).”

Hate or love Coldplay, it’s always nice when a band gives back to the people who got them to where they are.  The tracklisting for LeftRightLeftRightLeft is available here.

Continuing our theme of being the go-to place for B-Sides, here are some more from perhaps the biggest band in the world. We’ve given you three of theirs already….here are two more.

Coldplay – One I Love (mp3) from the In My Place single

Coldplay – 1′ 36″ (mp3) from The Scientist single

The Coldplay of 2009 isn’t the Coldplay that endeared the band to us back when Parachutes came out.  Sure, Andy liked Viva La Vida – probably better than their last couple albums, if he’s being honest – but the new album, as much as he may enjoy it, just doesn’t cut it when thinking about the aching quality of their debut.  Dave’s enjoyment level, on the other hand, has actually diminished with each subsequent album.  With Parachutes being the best in his opinion, A Rush of Blood to the Head being second, then the last two being very close.

Here are a few b-sides from the band’s early days that showcase exactly what we mean. We’ll give it to Coldplay on that front – they generally have great b-sides. These are three of our favorites.

Coldplay – No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground (mp3) from the Yellow single

Coldplay – Careful Where You Stand (mp3) from the Shiver single

Coldplay – Crests of Waves (mp3) from Clocks single

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